'Pastafarian' Wins the Right to Wear Colander as a Hat on Her Driver's License

Want to wear a colander on your head as an expression of religious beliefs? Come on down to Massachusetts, where you, too, can sport a spaghetti strainer on your noggin in your official driver's license photo.

Lindsay Miller has been squabbling with the Registry of Motor Vehicles over wearing a strainer in her license picture. The department says drivers cannot wear a hat unless it is for medical or religious reasons.

Miller appealed, saying she is a member of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a tongue-in-cheek movement that opposes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design in public schools.

“As a member of the church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I feel delighted that my Pastafarianism has been respected,” Miller told WBZ-TV.

“While I don’t think the government can involve itself in matters of religion, I do hope this decision encourages my fellow Pastafarian Atheists to come out and express themselves as I have,” she said.

The American Humanist Association has helped Miller in her battle. The Pastafarians believe the existence of a Flying Spaghetti Monster is “just as probable as the existence of the Christian God,” said Parry DeJuneas of the Secular Legal Society, which is affiliated with the association, the station reported.

The Massachusetts motor vehicle office has allowed Miller to wear a strainer on her head for her official license photo.